Kristen Wiig is 3x Emmy-nominated and arguably the most successful female SNL player of all time. (1) She has 57 impressions. (2) She has 27 recurring characters. (3) She's been in 20 movies. (4) She wrote/acted in the hit film, Bridesmaids... NEXT FILMS: Friends with Kids, Revenge for Jolly, Imogene, Comedian, How to Train Your Dragon 2, & Clown Girl.

Howard thinks so in this review of Kristen's Tamara Parks performance...

ZOË RICE: ... Kristen Wiig’s appearance as a woman suffering from spontaneous orgasms is just okay–for Kristen Wiig. But as usual her expressions and facial gags still work.

STEVE MURPHY: ... Kristin Wiig really brings it home with some hilarious faces as a woman who can’t stop having orgasms. “Thank you for coming,” was a particularly edgy joke for SNL, but I loved it! Terrific Update this week.

HOWARD MEGDAL: Not much to add here, other than to point out Wiig as a worthy successor to Ms. Carol Burnett in this skit.

ZOË RICE: Kristen Wiig’s annoying Trina character was mostly just annoying here. This may be my least favorite recurring Wiig character, but I still just love her.

STEVE MURPHY: I hated this last year… and again tonight. I love Kristen Wiig, but this one falls down flat. Not funny for one second. Long, slow and bad.

HOWARD MEGDAL: And such a waste. If it were Kenan Thompson, at least I could reassure myself that the writing wouldn’t save it. But Wiig can be so good with the right material, or really, given her ability to do more with less, with the absence of bad material.

Yeah, I have to agree. It was funny, but it wasn't what it could have been. It would have been better if it wasn't about Trina interrupting her boss. Maybe if it was just about her being at a party or something. Plus what if she was surrounded by other annoying characters?

Next new episode of SNL isn't until November 7. Taylor Swift will be pulling double duty as the host and musical act (and following in the footsteps of J-Lo, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears, who all have done double duty in the past).

We found a blogger out there who doesn't like Kristen Wiig. Here is what he had to say....

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After suffering through perhaps the worst season premiere of Saturday Night Live I've ever seen and her two comedy-black-hole moments on this week's Bored to Death, I have to ask: am I the only one who just doesn't think Kristen Wiig is funny?

She hijacks sketch after sketch with bizarre, self-indulgent characters. She does a lot of accents and speech affectations, but they aren't funny. I keep seeing her hailed as the best thing in comedy since Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, but I have to say, I'm just not seeing it.

(For the record, Maya Rudolph was the same way, and similarly loved by a section of the audience, and I didn't see that, either.)

And she's in movie after movie and pops up in everything, and she is just a black hole where laughs go to die.

It sticks in my craw that Saturday Night Live cuts its female performers so casually, as if they feel like they really only need one woman to play every female character on the show. So they dump talented performers like Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson, who are actually funny, and give Wiig 85% of the screen time and keep a couple of extra chicks like Abby Elliott and Jenny Slate (who was dully unfunny but provided the show with its only moment of tangible energy when she realized she'd accidentally sworn on the air) to just fill out the background. It's annoying, and brings down my enthusiasm. I want to laugh. Kristen Wiig does not make me laugh.

If Kristen Wiig were funny, it would be a different story. But I don't want SNL to turn into The Kristen Wiig Show any more than I wanted it to turn into The Maya Rudolph Show. And I really want to know why SNL thinks having multiple female leads for sketches is somehow too much. Certainly there never seems to be the feeling that they've got "enough" men on the show performing.

Cheers to Kristen Wiig for moonlighting (or would that be daylighting?) from Saturday Night Live. The omnipresent sketch artist (who morphed into Madonna and Rep. Michele Bachmann on the season opener of SNL Weekend Update Thursday) steals the Sept. 27 episode of HBO's new detective comedy Bored to Death as a loopy boozehound who suspects her boyfriend is cheating on her. She's also hitting the big screen as Jason Bateman's unfaithful wife in Extract and a roller derby queen in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It. (Plus, she's in the MacGruber movie, but we won't hold that against her.) With all this Kristen, we're totally Wiiging out!

What do you think—is there such a thing as too much Kristen Wiig?=======

Friday, October 23, 2009

SNL actors Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig talk about their new film ADVENTURELAND. The comedians talk about what they love about director Greg Mottola, messing around and having fun on set, and of course, committing suicide:

So Mark takes a stab at writing the Taylor Swift monologue, concentrating on making fun of the Kanye West ordeal. I don't think he's far off. We've already talked about it here, and our ideas were very similar to this. Check it out...

The most common joke in pop culture for the past few years revolves around "Saturday Night Live" not being funny anymore.

That's not true. There has been plenty to laugh at.

Although, this season hasn't exactly gotten off to rib-tickling start. A few good skits here and there, and solid "Weekend Update" performances, but as a whole, well, I haven't kept any episodes stored on the DVR.

However, I'm thinking that will change Nov. 7 when Taylor Swift hosts "Saturday Night Live." That has the potential for terrific work. The "SNL" writers won't have to work too hard to find comedic content for Swift.

They could just write a Kanye West interruption into every skit. That would be hilarious. Well, maybe not every skit but certainly three or four "I'mma let you finish" bits would make us laugh.

No way Swift makes it more than three sentences in her opening monologue before she gets Kanye'd. In fact, that should be her whole monologue. Heck, let's write it right now:

"Taylor, I'm really happy you're hosting 'Saturday Night Live' this week, and I'mma let you finish, but I'm the best host of the all time. The best host of all time!"

Cue Andy Samberg.

"Yeah, Taylor, I'm really happy for your T-Swizzle/T-Pain spoof at the CMT Awards, and I'mma let you finish, but I made one of the best digital shorts of all time! One of the best digital shorts of all time!"

Back to Swift.

"Anyway, Andy, last year I was a musical guest on the show and that was awesome. This year, I get to h . . . "

Cue Kenan Thompson.

"I'm really happy for your career success, and I'mma let you finish, Taylor, but my duet with Anna Faris was the best singing of last season! The best singing of last season!"

Back to Swift.

"Ummmm, Ooooookay, Kenan. So, last time I was in New York, I had a great time performing on top of a taxicab at Radio City. How many people my age can do that without getting arres . . . "

Cue to Kristen Wiig.

"Taylor, I'm really happy you're so young and successful, and I'mma let you finish, but I've been dancing on top of cabs for years and I'm the best of all time! The best of all time!"

Back to Swift.

"OK, Kristen. But have you ever won a VMA? I did. Of course, my chance to accept the VMA wasn't what I had planned, but . . . "

Cue Kanye West.

"Taylor, I'm really happy for you and I'mma let you finish, but I was one of the biggest jerks of all time that night! One of the biggest jerks of all time! So, seriously this time, I'mma let you finish."

That would be a win-win for everyone involved, including us consumers of pop culture.

I saw some similarities here to our conversation. We were thinking the same opening interruption, and we also mentioned Alec Baldwin doing it. But we think Steve Martin could do it even better. Similar to how Steve Martin interrupted Tina Fey's monologue.

I like Mark's Andy Samberg line, but I think it could be even better if it was specific to just T-Payne, making fun of the fact that Andy and Taylor both tapped T-Payne to do mock raps. It's almost like a "T-Payne short" is a genre now. =^)

Andy Samberg:

"Yeah, Taylor, I'm really happy for your T-Pain video at the CMT Awards, and I'mma let you finish, but I made one of the best T-Payne digital shorts of all time! One of the best T-Payne shorts of all time!"

And maybe when Kristen Wiig gives her response, they can show a clip of her dancing on cabs and peoples' reactions around her. That would be pretty funny!

So, it's really hard to tell who stole the show here. Kristen was funny, and Will Forte started it out well, but it really comes down to Kenan, Jason's dancing character, and Gerard's White Pete. Hysterical!

For some reason, Kristen comes out as gold medal winner, Picabo Street, and she doesn't talk. She just dances. Pretty random!

So Kristen has done this character before. It's very funny at parts, but not her best.

I think I'd like this Trina character better if she was in a scenario where she was the focal character, rather than interrupting the focal character.

For example, if she was having lunch, and it centered around her annoying other people trying to eat. Or if she was shopping and annoying other shoppers and clerks. Or even if they made it a dual skit and gave her another

Marc Jacob for Louis Vuitton’s 2009 spring fashion show had an eerily familiar silhouette, with smartly placed bow and retro-inspired garments. Am I the only one that couldn’t help but think they had based their season on Kristen Wiig’s “Gilly?”

Featuring Music and Performances by: Phosphorescent, Peter & The Wolf, The Relatives

A romantic drama about two couples shifting sexual dynamics over one night in a music bar.

Written and Directed by Chadd Harbold

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This is a new Independent film made by a Web team (hopefully it will at least make it to the independent film circuit). Kristen's trying a dramatic role, and it's cool to see her getting her hands dirty on the Web to make that happen. She continues to line up the supporting roles in comedy films, but it is a great career move to get dramatic pieces out there as much as she can, and independent Web films is one way to make that happen. Kristen, we wish you luck in getting more dramatic roles and higher billing in your films (hopefully Whip It will help).

Friday, October 16, 2009

I went and saw the movie this week, based on the reviews. Overall, it's a fun movie that explores the roller derby life style. I'd recommend it for anyone. There's enough humor, romance, and drama to make everybody happy.

Drew Barrymore masterfully directs and paces the movie so that it isn't too bombastic but it moves along fast enough to keep you interested. Even if the movie does poorly, it should still launch Drew's career as a director.

And of course Ellen Page is a phenominal actress. She plays off of all the insecurities and crushes in her character, Bliss. The film is also well cast with familiar faces and great performances (including Andrew Wilson as Razor, Landon Pigg as Oliver, and Jimmy Fallon as Johnny Rocket). You'll even see Eve and enjoy the performances by unknown actresses (like the amusing Eva Destruction character).

Although it's a different movie, if you liked Juno, you'll like Whip It.

The story centers around Ellen Page's character, Bliss. Bliss is introduced to the world of roller derby, and she instantly falls in love with it and finds success with it.

In Whip It, Kristen Wiig is actually a main character, Maggie Mayhem, the captain of the Hurl Scouts (the team that Bliss joins). Kristen is on screen more than Juliette Lewis, Drew Barrymore, and anyone else from the rolly derby world that Ellen's Bliss character encounters.

Kristen was playing a dramatic role (with a few comedic awkward moments, but really it was a straight character). She proved to me that Kristen is going places as a lead comedian and as a lead dramatic actress. Kristen plays Maggie as a single mom who spends most of her time with her son. She acts as the mentor/aunt to Ellen's Bliss (also called Babe Ruthless). She also gives Bliss some helpful advice to not run from her family and friends.

So far, Kristen Wiig has cut out a niche market as a supporting comedy actress in films (already!). And I think the starring role that Kristen has coming in a Judd Apatow comedy is the next logical step.

My guess is that this is Kriten's second-to-last season on SNL. When Kristen leaves SNL, she'll have a healthy film career open for her to take.

Kristen has been in 16 films already, and she has 8 new films lined up. To date, the most successful (film-wise) female alumni from SNL has been Molly Shannon, who has had 31 films, but only one was a notable starring role (Superstar). Kristen will soon become the most successful female movie star from SNL.